Dreams
by Toasty Warrior
Summary: Naruto has always had the dream of becoming Hokage so people will respect him, but he has another dream that he has secretly kept to himself for so long, to finally win the love of his teammate Sakura, can he somehow make this impossible dream possible?


Dreams, we all have them, it's what we drive to live for and it's what inspires us to be better people and that's no different for Naruto Uzumaki. He's one person that's got a big dream and that is too become Hokage of his village of Konoha. This dream is what drives him, yet ask anyone of his teammates and they'll tell you, there's more than one thing he desires more than becoming Hokage, that is to win the love of his longtime teammate Sakura Haruno, but unfortunately for poor Naruto, he knows that is only something in his wildest dreams, something that he can never hope to achieve as he believes she is in love with their former teammate Sasuke Uchiha and no matter how much it hurts Naruto, he vowed to bring his teammate back not just for himself, but for Sakura, so she can achieve her dreams too.

XxXxXxXx

It was just your typical day in Konoha, the sun was high in the sky and the air was cool, spring had just come and warmed up the village, yet people passing by doing their usual mundane tasks didn't seem to notice a pink haired girl passing by them fast, she was like a blur as she ran towards the forward gates of Konoha, she had just gotten word from her shishou, The Fifth Hokage of Konoha, Tsunade Senju, that Naruto had returned from his retrieval mission of getting Sasuke back and it sounded as though he was successful. Running as fast as she could Sakura put some extra chakra into her legs as her heart began to beat faster, her thoughts on both of her teammates, she was ecstatic that Naruto had kept his promise to her after all these years, yet something else was pulling at her heart, something she couldn't quite put her fingers on. For the moment, she pushed those thoughts to the back of her head as she finally reached the front gates and what she saw shocked her.

In front of her stood Naruto, he was barely able to stand as it looked like he had gone through hell itself, the multiple cuts and wounds he had received darkened his usually bright orange jumpsuit, then Sakura noticed something else on Naruto specifically on his back, the person laid motionless on his back, but she could tell it was Sasuke just from his black hair and the way it was shaped. Immediately Sakura rushed up to both of her teammates as Naruto despite his weakened state carefully extracted Sasuke from his back and gently laid him down on the ground. He had noticed Sakura come rushing towards them and tried to speak up as he put Sasuke down, but all he could manage was a few words.

"See… I told you I'd bring him back Sakura-chan…"

Naruto then flashed her his trademark smile before he collapsed onto the ground from his injuries.

"Naruto!"

Sakura rushed over to him and began to pump some chakra into his body, trying to heal his wounds, not realizing she started shedding tears as she healed him.

"Naruto you baka! Why? Why do you always put yourself in these situations just for me?"

Yet all of her yell was in vein as Naruto lay their motionless as Sakura continued to pump her chakra into him, then she felt someone gently touch her on the shoulder and she turned around to see Tsunade looking at her, smiling as she spoke up to Sakura.

"Don't worry Sakura, he'll be just fine, he's just exhausted from fighting Sasuke and it looks as thought the Kyuubi took care of most of the healing, come on let's go to the hospital, we need to bring both of these idiots there."

Sakura nodded as she wiped the tears from her eyes and followed behind the other medic-nin that had come to take Naruto and Sasuke to the hospital. As they were leaving Tsunade couldn't help but stare at Sakura who continued to stare at Naruto's sleeping form, a smile appeared as she smiled proudly at both of them.

_"Sakura, you're one lucky girl to have a man like that, one that cares more about you then he does himself, now if only you can get over your crush of Sasuke, I believe you'll make each other happy for the rest of your lives."_

XxXxXxXx

A few days had passed since Naruto had brought back Sasuke and most of their friends had come to see him in the hospital, but yet despite all his friends seeing him, one person in particular had yet to come visit him, Sakura. It seemed as thought the past would never change and Naruto just sighed as he let a small smile crept across his face.

"I'd figure Sakura-chan would forget about me once I brought Sasuke back, I thought maybe she'd at least come and visit me, say thank you for bring Sasuke-teme back, but then again I'm happy at the same time because Sakura-chan is happy and she can now fulfill her dreams, perhaps now I can finally focus on my dream of becoming Hokage…"

Yet as Naruto said these words to himself, it stung him, like someone had ripped his heart out of his body and kept on stabbing it over and over again. That day he was finally released from the hospital and decided that he needed sometime to think and what better place to think than his favorite spot, the top of Hokage Monument. Once he was on top of the Fourth's head he sat down and began balling his eyes out, something he usually never did, but eventually everything that he had been avoiding finally caught up to him and he was letting out sixteen years worth of stress.

"Why? I thought that maybe she'd give me a chance after all that I've done for her, but l guess that's not meant to be… I guess I'm only meant to fulfill my dream of becoming Hokage and that's all…"

As Naruto continued to cry, he hadn't notice he had been followed by someone and she had hear what he said and it broke her heart hearing him say that. It's not that Sakura didn't want to visit Naruto, it's just she had felt uneasy after what she had said to him and avoided him because she was afraid of what he might say if she had confessed her feelings to Naruto, she actually had sometime to talk to Sasuke in length about her feelings.

_**Flashback**_

_Sasuke was currently sitting in his hospital bed that was surrounded by ANBU Black Op members as Tsunade didn't want any chances of him escaping and Sakura herself had noticed a change in his demeanor too, he seemed more at peace and not so hostile like he use to be. She sat down on a chair next to his bed and he seemed to notice her as he looked up at her._

_"Sakura…"_

_His voice was almost like a whisper and it shocked Sakura, but yet she wouldn't let this stop her as she smiled at Sasuke and spoke up to him._

_"Hey Sasuke-kun, how are you feeling today?"_

_"I'm feeling pretty good, I just wish I had some more breathing room, these ANBU Black Ops are choking up the air…"_

_Sakura was actually surprised that he had cracked a joke, but nonetheless she was about to speak up before Sasuke interjected._

_"You know Sakura, I'm surprised you're here right now… I'd thought for sure you'd be visiting Naruto."_

_Sakura was speechless, Sasuke had a point, she hadn't seen Naruto since the day he had brought back Sasuke, as if he could read her mind Sasuke spoke the words she was trying to say._

_"I'm guessing it's because you're feeling uneasy about something right Sakura? I can clearly see it written on your face, that day Naruto brought me back, I heard your words that you said to him, you should know Naruto really does care about you, in fact during the whole fight he never once shut up about bring me back for your sake, I can tell you right now Sakura, don't let Naruto slip through your fingers, he's a person you rarely find out there…"_

_Sakura was shocked by Sasuke's words, but yet at the same time she knew they were true, the fact that Naruto had kept that promise to her so many years ago, showed how much he cared for her and that's why she had let those words slip from her mouth, yet she still wondered about Sasuke's feelings for her, in particular was that night at the bench. Sakura decided to ask Sasuke about it._

_"Sasuke-kun, what about that night, you know, when I was sitting on the bench and you commented on how pretty I was and what a large and charming forehead I had?"_

_Sasuke didn't answer Sakura as he looked at her with a blank expression._

_"What do you mean Sakura? I never said anything like that to you… in fact…"_

_Suddenly Sasuke realized why Naruto had tied him up that night and explained to Sakura. She was clearly shocked by the realization of Naruto's true feelings for her, at the same time she afraid that if she admitted her feelings to Naruto she was sure she'd get rejected by him just like that time with Sasuke, she began to cry somewhat until she felt firm hand grip her shoulder and she looked up to see Sasuke give her a soft smile._

_"Sakura don't be afraid to admit your feelings to him, Naruto loves you and I'm sure he'd be more than willing to accept you."_

_For the first time in years, Sakura gave Sasuke a genuine smile as she walked out of his room and even Sasuke had to crack a smile at what just happened._

_"I'd say it's about damn time, Naruto has been chasing after Sakura for years, they'll make each other happy, I'm sure of it."_

_**Flashback End**_

Sakura gathered all of her courage and stepped out from behind the tree as she walked up to Naruto and gently tapped him on the shoulder, he immediately spun around and was shocked to see her here as he did his best to dry his eyes and put his mask back on.

"Oh Sakura-chan! I didn't hear you come up here, I was just overlooking the village since the view is nice…"

Sakura didn't say anything as she sat down next to Naruto and wrapped him in an embrace as she buried her head into the crook of his neck crying as she did.

"Naruto… I can clearly see you're in pain and I heard what you said too, so it's no use in trying to hide it behind your mask…"

Naruto's heart began to sink as he hated seeing Sakura crying and he was sure she was doing it because of what he had said to himself, he mentally cursed himself as he returned the embrace speaking up to Sakura.

"Sakura-chan please don't cry… I'm sorry you had to hear that… I didn't mean it…"

Before he could finish his sentence he felt Sakura put her finger to his lips to silence him and she looked up at him with her tear stained eyes.

"Why? Why didn't you tell me before? About how you felt about me?"

Naruto was speechless as Sakura had caught up and it was now out in the open, yet he couldn't form the words to tell Sakura how he felt, so she continued to talk.

"How can you still love me after all that I've done to you? I've been nothing but a selfish bitch too you, yet you still love me, why Naruto?"

She gently pounded her fists into his shoulder as she continued to cry and Naruto could only smile as he gently lifted her head to face him.

"Sakura-chan, I've always loved you since we were in the academy, you were on of the first people that actually didn't ignore me and after Sasuke left, I made that promise to myself to bring him back, because I considered it more important than being Hokage… in fact I've always considered your happiness above everything else Sakura-chan…"

At that moment Sakura didn't have any remaining doubts about Naruto's feeling for her as she smiled and decided to seal the deal as she unexpectedly kissed Naruto right on the lips to his surprise, at first he tried to resist it, but eventually he gave in and returned the kiss. They parted once the need for air came and both of them were blushing madly, yet at the same time Naruto was a little stunned by Sakura's sudden actions, but he wasn't complaining.

"And I love you too Naruto Uzumaki… I know I haven't always been the best person around, but I promise from now on, if you let me, you'll never be alone…"

Naruto just smiled as he wrapped his arms around Sakura and pulled her close to him.

"Thank you Sakura, you don't know how much this means to me, but you know I've never told anyone this before, but I also have another dream besides becoming Hokage…"

Sakura snugged in closer to Naruto as she spoke up to him.

"What would that be Naruto?"

Naruto blushed as he thought for a moment about what he was going to say.

"Well, it's just that becoming Hokage would seem so empty without someone by my side and for years I hoped that maybe you'd be the one to share that dream with me, what do you say Sakura-chan?"

Sakura just smiled as she got up and offered her hand to Naruto.

"You know what Naruto, that sounds like a great dream to me and I'd be honored to share it with you…"

Naruto blushed a little as he took Sakura's hand and the both of them stood to watch the sunset.

XxXxXxXx

_Five years later from that time…_

A lot had happened within those five years since Naruto and Sakura had confessed their feelings to each other, Naruto had finally achieved his dream of becoming Hokage and Sakura had been at his side every step of the way, but at the moment, she was the one in need of support. You see the night after Naruto and Sakura had married, like any newlyweds they had finally decided to take that next step in their relationship and they had conceived a child together and now their child was on the way. Naruto stood outside of the delivery room doors hearing Sakura's screams of pain and it made him wince. Finally the screams subsided and it was silent for a few moments before Tsunade came walking out of the doors smiling.

"All I have to say is, congratulations Naruto, it's a healthy baby girl."

Naruto was dumbfounded and his friends had to shake him out of his trans like state as he spoke up nervously to Tsunade.

"You mean… I have a daughter?"

"Yes, Naruto you do, would you like to meet her?"

Naruto's slowly walked through the doors and down the hall to where Sakura and their newborn child were. He opened the door and looked at Sakura, she looked like she had just been through the chunnin exams twice over, but yet she had a smile on her face as she saw Naruto walk in.

"Hey, Naruto…"

Naruto was about to say something to Sakura when he heard a soft mewling sound coming from the blanket Sakura was holding, curiously he bend down to get a better look at the small bundle that was cradled in Sakura's arms, he could clearly see a patch of reddish pink hair on her. She then opened up her eyes to reveal a blueish-green hue as she looked at him curiously too. Naruto let a few tears escape his eyes seeing how beautiful his daughter was.

"I would have never thought I'd reach this moment in my life Sakura-chan, it's a dream come true and I have you to thank for it, you've made me the happiest man alive…"

Sakura just smiled back at Naruto as she kissed him on the lips.

"Don't mention it Naruto, I'm just glad that I'm here to share it with you."

Naruto was about to say something when he noticed that both mother and daughter had fallen asleep, he smiled seeing how peaceful they looked and he was grateful for this moment as it was all thanks to one dream that he had not given up on.


End file.
